Statistics

A great starting place for locating statistical information; this guide points to the best resources available to the HBS community.

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Labor and Trade

Bureau of Labor Statistics
U.S. Department of Labor
Covers employment, compensation, living and working conditions, as well as a listing of additional regional resources. Allows creation of customized tables.

Comtrade
Global annual data presented by commodity and partner country from the U.N.'s Statistics Division. Limited data is available for free at UN Comtrade.

Trade Profiles
World Trade Organization
Overviews of a country's trade situation provided by the WTO.

LABORSTA
Provided by the International Labor Organization (ILO), one of the best sources for employment data for countries around the world. Has data back to 1969.

U.S. Data

FedStats
Gives access to the full range of statistics and information produced by over 100 agencies of the U.S. government.

Global Insight
Offers a great variety of economic, industry, and historical statistics. Sources include trade associations, Wards (automobiles), the Conference Board and University of Michigan (consumer sentiment), and the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Federal Reserve.

Sperling's BestPlaces
Provides data on cost of living, crime, etc. for major cities in the U.S.

StateMaster
A statistical database of compiled information from various primary sources such as the US Census Bureau, the FBI, and the National Center for Educational Statistics. Includes visualization technology like pie charts, maps, graphs and scatterplots. Also includes map and flag images.

Statistical Abstract of the United States
Statistics for the U.S. with selected data for regions, divisions, states, metropolitan areas, cities, and foreign countries from reports and records of government and private agencies. Covers a wide range of U.S. statistical data and provides original sources. Abstract publications and data available back to 1901.

Survey of Current Business
Bureau of Economic Analysis
As part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, this agency collects data and also conducts research and produces working papers available on the site.

U.S. Census Bureau
Includes mapping and data extraction tools for social, demographic, and economic statistics mainly for the U.S. The Business & Industry page offers a wide range of statistics on the economy, companies, and specific industries.

Historical Data

Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research (FRASER)
Provides historical banking and economic data from the founding of the Federal Reserve Bank dating back to approximately 1913.

Global Financial Data
Historical financial database of long-term total return data on stocks, bonds, and bills from every major market in the world dating back to 1900.

Historical Statistics of the United States
Statistics from Colonial times to present including characteristics, vital statistics, migration, work and welfare, economic structure and performance, economic sectors, governance, and international relations. Tables may be downloaded for use in spreadsheets and other applications.

Ibbotson SBBI Classic Yearbook
Check Harvard availability
Ref. HG4501 .S7949 2009 in the Stamps Reading Room
The history of returns on U.S. capital markets from 1926 to present described in overviews, tables, and graphs. Published annually.

Forecasts

Bloomberg Academic or Bloomberg Professional
Provides two year economic forecasts of data items for 42 countries. Type ECFC and press the "GO" key.

Bluechip Economic Indicators
Consensus forecasts from top U.S. business economists on GDP, growth rates, inflation, interest rates, and other business indicators. Go to Business Source Complete and use the "Publication" tab to search for issues.

Congressional Budget Office Publications- Budget and Economic Outlook
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Provides U.S. economic projection and historical reports and presentations by CBO Directors and staff.

Consensus Economics
Consensus Economics polls more than 600 economists each month to obtain their forecasts & views. These surveys cover economic forecast data for over 70 countries. The consensus is defined as the mean average of the forecasts from experts in individual sectors. Also available is an archive of forecasts back as far as 1989 for some countries. Available from Datastream in the Stamps Reading room in the Baker Library-Bloomberg Center. To locate go to the Datastream Navigator feature then click on "Economics" and then the sub-section "Intl. Forecasts and Surveys".

Economist Intelligence Unit
Industry, demographic, and economic data and forecasts. Click on the Data Services link.

Passport
Provides forecast data aggregated from International Financial Statistics, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and Eurostat.

Survey of Professional Forecasters
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
A quarterly survey of macroeconomic U.S. forecasts. Started in 1968 by the American Statistical Association and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Risk Measures

CountryData.com
A variety of financial ratings such as exchange rate stability, corruption, external and internal conflict, government stability, investment profile, and observance of law and order. Covers countries worldwide.

Coface Country and Sector Risk Ratings
Web site produced by the credit insurer Coface Group, providing country risk ratings and analysis for 152 countries.

DoingBusiness.org
In-depth risk analysis and data on doing business in over 180 countries. A service provided by the World Bank.

IMD World Competitiveness Online
Country profiles and rankings that measure the competitiveness of a country in relation to other countries.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Direct
Provides credit ratings for sovereign debt issues with detailed reports explaining these credit recommendations. Includes a 14 year archive.

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